Life Couldn't Get Better
by Nobli
Summary: On the eve of the new year, the first fox officer looks back over his year in blue, "Life couldn't get better," he tells himself. Looking back at the last year of his life, a huge contrast to where he was just one year prior. As he settles in to his quiet routine he counts his blessings in the form of the partner that made such a difference in his life.
1. Chapter 1

December 31st, New Years Eve, snow covered the whole of the concrete jungle, the base element of Zootopia. The sun had set and in its wake the gently falling frost that had claimed the central part of the massive city, slowly resembling Tundra Town in the stark white the flakes caused. That same monochrome hue for the massive structure of _Precinct One_ , pride and joy of the mammal officers in blue.

"Soooooo much paperwork! Is this really what I traded in two-hundred bucks a day for?" The fox complained in the small whiney tone from the comfort of his reclined seat, his desk littered with assorted reports and important notes. The end of his first year as an officer, that same time last year he wouldn't have imagined himself where he was now. The truth was life had taken a great turn from where he was just one year prior. All in part because of the determination of one mammal.

"Stop complaining." A more energetic, playful and chipper voice played from the chair just behind and opposite of his, seated in place at the mirrored desk. The very same rabbit that had changed his life so wholey.

"Hey, you're right. Just making the world a better place one paper cut at a time." He mocked with a dramatic tone. That same rabbit swiveling in her chair at the same moment as the fox, the two meeting challenging eyes, a tension in their furrowed expressions… A beat, then another before both broke into warm smiles. He knew better, a steady job where he was respected for his effort as opposed to being looked down on for it. ' _Life Couldn't get better,'_ the thought constantly present.

"Yea, yea, I get it. Paperwork sucks, we still have to do it though." She stated with her own confident smirk and a raised brow. "And you don't get to pawn it off on another rookie like last time, Slick." She said pointing a paw threateningly at him.

"Who? Me?" The fox made a dramatic gesture of placing a paw innocently over the center of his heart. "Why I never, and here I thought you trusted me, I would never-"

"Officer Wilbur already let it slip that you managed to rope him into writing up a couple of your reports. You're lucky Bogo didn't slap you with a month of ticket duty for that one." She said with a hint of worry. "I know you like playing with fire Nick but eventually you're going to get burned." She made a concerted effort to express her displeasure with his antics with a look that oozed with concern and caring.

"Alright, alright I get it. Don't give me the bunny look, it's too cute." Even at his best he didn't have the reaction time to intercept the small grey and blue blur that tackled into him sending the chair and him tumbling to the ground. The next thing he knew he was on his back, looking up at the muted ceiling, a nicer shade of grey in the form of that rabbit straddled across his chest looking down at him. Her expression not as muted in the way it warned. A silent conversation the two had many times over the last couple months.

' _Cute?'_ Her glare warned.

' _Won't use that word again.'_ His laid back ears and empty open palms, a sign of surrender.

' _Don't lie to me Wilde!'_ Her glare responded, aided by a clenched paw. Nick couldn't help but think it _Cute._ And as psychic as she seemed to be in their little non verbal discussion she asserted that fact by planting the clenched rabbit fist into his shoulder.

"Ow." Nick began but instead of any sincere pain he laughed rubbing at the sore spot.

"Don't test me Wilde." She emphasised with her clenched fist again.

"Alright, alright, I give." And like that, both their verbal and nonverbal discussion ended, the rabbit waiting against his chest a moment or two longer before the two disengaged awkwardly, Nick using a decent amount of force to right his large chair, a byproduct of being one of the smallest officers on the force meant non fitting office furniture, something the two had grown accustomed to. "So, how was Christmas with your parents?" He asked, the two holidays, both Christmas and New Years he found causing him to miss out on a lot of time with his favorite rabbit. Both having put in for holidays matching the other, where Judy would spend the holidays with the family Nick didn't have any to do the same, the alternative being desk duty or partnered with someone else, a thought he wasn't very fond of, instead electing to simply match her vacation days.

"Oh! The same as last year. Passing out the presents took over an hour just on its own, the dinner was massive this year!" She continued on, listing off the events with a big smile, accented by her large rabbit incisors. She looked around seemingly at nothing, recounting the holiday spent with wild gestures. "Everyone asked me all sorts of questions about being an officer in Zootopia, Granpap didn't miss out the opportunity to complain about me having a fox partner." That part allowed Nick a small opportunity to chuckle.

"Well now Carrots, your Papap's just looking out for you, after all us foxes are red because we were made by the devil." He made as devilish a smile as he could earning a chuckle from the stout rabbit herself as response, a simple act of dismissal that he felt oddly comforted by. She started again, one note after the next of the holidays. At first the mentions were detailed, vivid and he focused on them fervently. From her father's trouble with the watering system on their massive farm having multiple breaks due to the cold, to sister gossip, one by one the subjects grew further out of his focus. Nick himself just took to resting his muzzle into his set paw, already lost in the long drawling memory the rabbit continued to recollect. He was haplessly taking in the image in front of him with an unknowing smirk. He sighed contently to himself drawing it to memory.

 _Her ears,_ long marked at the ends and a strong telling of the rabbits feelings. Like now, he took them to note their tall proud stance to help inundate her flourishing, ecstatic retelling of stories with her family while on holiday.

 _Her nose,_ he would hesitate to use the word ' _cute_ ' but felt it justified given her lack of strong serious characteristics. She hated the use of the word, given its connotations, then again Nick wouldn't miss an opportunity to tease her. He was far from a dumb enough animal to claim she wasn't serious though, her drive was on another level from anyone he knew, an inspiring, magnetic quality.

 _Her eyes,_ deeply violet, a nearly cosmic hue that he couldn't readily compare to many things, a showing of how unique the color was. They were pools of raw, rabbit emotion, they were idols of determination and ingenuity. More than that though, he knew them for their compassion and sympathy. The set looked at him, focused-

"Nick?" The quiet tone asked, the fox lost in his own greedy musing.

"Hm?" He barely droned as the set of eyes furrowed at him.

"You with me partner?" She asked leaning forward from her own adjacent chair with a curious look. His eyes widened realizing that she wasn't recounting a story any more, the whole of her focus on the goofy, half lidded and clearly infatuated expression.

"Sorry fluff, just tired." He made a show of stretching to the full extent of his limbs, it wasn't entirely a lie, he hoped a decent enough deterrent from his embarrassing moment.

"Same, your reports finished?" He refocused, she was holding a waft of loose papers and reports. He hurriedly grabbed his own from the desk just off his left shoulder. With a challenging smile he mirrored her, holding them forward.

"Yup, you and I won't work together again till next year." He smirked, her own expression confused, worried, a beat then.

"Oh, yea, duh. 2016." She made a show of bopping her own paw against her forehead. "Dumb bunny, New Years." She laughed before smiling warmly.

"So when's your train to Bunny Burrow?" The two exited their chairs, a small descent to the ground before collecting their coats. Falling in step beside one another, a routine. She radiated energy, he knew that but more than that he felt warmer every time he was in it, he smiled more than he used to, a more sincere one than the cocky smirks and suave charm he wielded otherwise.

"Tonight. Around Elevenish, ticket at 'Marshland' station." She stated simply, their steps were echoed quietly across the floor, the last couple of days spent performing overtime to placate their Chief, Bogo, given their timely use of vacation hours.

"Oh, thats right passed my apartment. How many days did you get off?" He asked, he couldn't even help the sardonic tone his question took. The question was framed more in a way that asked himself how many days he would be without that same warming aura.

"Same as you, just two. Can't afford that many days off, large crime spikes this time of year."

"Can't have that, Carrots." He hummed lightly with his noncommittal volume. Their direction quickly took them right past the reception center just off the officers cubicles. A portly seemingly sugar fueled cheetah, ever present, manning the reception desk at the center of the entrance of the precinct.

"Judy, Nick!" Benjamin Clawhauser beamed, a fanged smile from ear to ear. "You clocking out the last time this year?" The cheetah seemed unphased by the long hours and dark night that had fallen over the building. Just outside the large windows shown the frosty welcome the front entrance threatened.

"You know it, denying the precinct the honor of my amazing presence for a couple days, what will the place do without me." Nick mocked sarcastically putting the back of his paw over his face theatrically.

"The Chief might say otherwise." The rabbit responded.

"Oh, Chief loves me and you know it." The fox quipped, the two passing their combined paperworks to the cheetah. "What about you Benji, any plans for the holiday?" The fox leaned an arm on the rabbit's head before she rapidly swatted the gesture away with a pointed, warning glare eliciting a chuckle of his own.

"Oh, going to hit up the Animalia New Year's concert, Gazelle is performing to end out this year and welcome in the new one." The cheetah openly boomed with excitement, his paws up against his cheeks as he almost squealed with anticipation. "What about you two?" the cheetah asked despite himself.

"Visiting the family." It was a common response, the energetic rabbit made a constant, concerted effort to balance out her vacation time with family, especially during holidays. The two sets of present eyes set on the fox.

"You know me, just gonna hang out with some friends from the old life and drink away the last of this year." Nick shrugged behind his trained smirk, he didn't offer much more than that.

"Alright, well enjoy your vacation time you two!" Clawhauser offered with a wave while they left. As they exited through the front of the building the cold air greeted them about as well as the small ice flakes and wind could.

They started their trudging walk through the snow, West bound from the precinct in downtown Savanna. They walked in mutual quiet for several blocks, every other block he caught himself mulling over the features of that same rabbit companion over and over again. ' _Ears, nose, eyes.'_ He listed off, even noting her tail, each time he found it more and more difficult to keep convincing himself otherwise. ' _Can a fox like a rabbit. Maybe.'_ He concluded with that same goofy expression.

"You keep staring Nick."

' _Uhoh,'_ He realized he was caught again. "Sorry fluffs, just not gonna see my favorite rabbit again for a few days." He said reactively, he meant it to be less telling but it still ended up coming out of his mouth more personal than he intended.

"Same partner, won't see my favorite fox for a couple more days." She smiled back.

"I'm your favorite?" He dramatically sighed. "Good, had me worried I was still fighting for the top spot over your baker friend or Finnick." He challenged.

"No, Gideons come a long way but you're my partner, we've been through a lot." She said without any room for mistake in the seriousness of how well she meant it. "Though Finnick when he's in 'uniform' for a con makes it a tough decision." She said sarcastically, earning a laugh from her fox companion. He nudged her as he laughed, an open bellowing set of laughter. She nudged him right back the two finding purchase in their small endeavor to trade shoves and pushes as they laughed. It continued that way, small conversations beginning and ending every couple of blocks, each time they ended in a closer proximity to the other. Block by block it got darker, not as a product of the already lost sun but instead by the district change from Savanna Central to the Rainforest District, fewer lights and a thick canopy of trees stopped the moonlight and draped the beautiful district and gentle spars rays of light that broke the rare openings in the thick foliage. By the time the two couldn't physically get any closer to each other, still warm goofy smiles plastered across their expressions, they arrived. A rickety old apartment complex just on the border of downtown of Savanna Central and the Rainforest District.

"Well, this is where we split ways." Nick began looking up, even though the buildings lights and warm appearing exterior weighed on him, he was in no hurry to leave that same radiant aura the rabbit exuded. When he turned to bathe in its warmth one last time for the holiday, it turned cold. The rabbit looked oddly mortified for just a second before she attempted a poorly held mask. His own expression instantly furrowed in surprise, it was a rare thing to see that same living embodiment of happyness. "Hopps?"

"Yea, guess you're right. I'll see you next year." Her tone, even without his experience reading mammals, it held a sad edge to it. An instinct he knew all too well without explanation, it urged him to pursue whatever caused that change in expression and dampening of her mood. Instead he was hit, a welcome projectile, that same grey rabbit moved into his space hugging him closely, he was caught by surprise between the sudden gesture that conflicted with that worried expression.

"There, there Judy." He patted at her shoulders before hugging her tightly in return. "You'll only miss the pleasure of my company for a couple days, sure the family will love all the time they get to spend with you." He said deepening the warm hug, a greedy sensation, a ' _want'_ to embrace as much of that exuded warmth.

"Say that again." She said through rasped breaths into the front of his coat, barely a mumble escaping.

"Hm? Well only a couple days till you get to see this handsome mug of mine again." He chuckled.

"No, the first part." She emphasised that simple importance by shoving him lightly. It took him all of two seconds.

"There, there Judy." He said again patting her back as he hugged to her. She almost seemed to burrow further into the hug, tightly gripping into his coat.

"Again." Was all she muttered. This time he was no longer confused by her request.

"Judy." He said it in a soft, warming tone, the warmth of his breath caught in the form of a cloud when he exhaled the words.

"Thank you." She mumbled deeply enough into the coat that he could even feel the heat from it that time, the two stayed there amicably for a moment or two, if asked, neither of the two mammals wanted to count any moment of that time. The two eventually did break apart, the fleeting warmth still present in its place.

"You bunnies, so emotional." He smiled back, the rabbit brushed away the small remnants of tears forming at the corners of her eyes. The fox was at a loss of how to interpret that motion or her own reaction to their holiday separation, it was a chilling but oddly warming sensation in his gut.

"Ha, think you can survive another couple days without me?" She said through bleary eyes, sniffling as she did.

"I'll do fine Carrots, our holiday will be over before you know it. Tell the family I said hi will ya." He smiled again, he couldn't remove the dumb smirk across his muzzle no matter how he tried.

"That makes one of us then, it feels crappy not having a partner to fall back on, I don't know what I'd do without you." She almost sounded like she was ready to cry again.

"Don't say that, you were a great officer before me, you would still be one without me, Fluffs." He said warmly, he was sure of it. She rolled her eyes before chuckling, far less sure than himself.

"I'm not as sure about that. Hey! You should come with me next time we get vacation hours, my family would love to finally meet you nose to nose." And like that, that same warming sensation was multiplied by a magnitude that he couldn't comprehend.

"Maybe Hopps, we'll see." He made a quick motion of checking over his phone for the time. "You better get moving though or you'll miss the transit." He made a motion of tapping the wristwatch he didn't have to help warn her.

"Oh, yea. Guess I'll see you when I get back, Slick."

"Yup, see ya then, Carrots." He nodded waving at the rabbit who just as quickly made their way down the dimmed street of the rainforest district. She rapidly disappeared in the shadow of the districts canopy. Long after she had, he remained in place allowing his smile to slowly fall into a tired neutral line instead.

His apartment was never anything special in the usual sense, just past the landlords was a set of stairs to the basement. The previous utility room, mismatched and varied sizes of water and gas pipes strewn along the walls and center support beams of the converted living space. It wasn't much, but to that former con it was _home_ in a very real way. Scattered second hand furniture made up the cozy livable element of the patterned estate, missing or removed walls in between what was originally different parts of boiler rooms and storage spaces.

One pipe would bellow on, rocking back and forth when water passed through it for the random residences higher up in the building. The rattling noise had grown rhythmic over the last couple of years he remained there. A small window that held the only external light from the dark space, excessive lighting not only unnecessary to the nocturnal canide but also a literal hinderance. Still the small ray of light that broached the small window was a very welcome sight. Making his way over to what passed as a closet, he dressed down out of his professional blues in place of a comfortable t-shirt and boxers. His next destination was the makeshift kitchenette, the mini fridge that suited his size as a species, it held the first of many beers that would make up his New Year's routine. He turned on a small space heater in the form of an old thrown out electric fireplace that had belonged to a larger species of some sort. His final destination that night, the recliner that faced that same mesmerizing heating device, parallel to the only small window the place had. A small rectangular basement window just near the ceiling's height.

He watched the snow billow against the wafting winds outside, he imagined his eventual tipsy state would help make the simple act of wind patterned sleet appear even more amazing. Neon lights of some of the more industrial buildings out across the canopy were an oddly mesmerizing sight, a sort of controlled version of New Years fireworks. Looking back at the pretend kitchenette for the small green pulsing light of the microwave clock, it read just after ten, a quite, self indulged prayer that his rabbit companions trip would be a safe one.

The thought of a warm, welcome farm, surrounded by family, celebrating simultaneously the beginning and end of two years. _Envy_ , he confirmed with a smirk, he couldn't complain though, as much as he was jealous of that rabbit his life had greatly improved at their own effort. The serene moment just outside the window caught up with him, slowly tired lids took their toll, heavy in that each time he blinked they grew increasingly difficult to open again. He brought his legs up to the seat alongside the rest of him, bringing the warm knit fabric up right after, he felt himself falling into a heavy sleep.

' _Life couldn't get better,'_ his last silent remark to himself as his conscious day came to an end.

 _Knock, knock, knock_

The sound barely caused the fox's ear to twitch, hardly a comparable note to the backdrop of occasionally clicking and clanking pipes. Several moments passed without another competing sound.

 _Knock, knock, knock!_

The fox shot forward with a start, a single deep breath and a groan. He looked around for the offending sound that fought him back to the conscious world. The dark room greeted him, the pulsing light of the microwave, the snow that had consumed half its way up the small basement window but nothing more. He began to lay his head down again to go back to sleep-

 _ **Knock! Knock! Knock!**_

Each rasp of the loud knuckles against the door made itself very pronounced. "Hey, stop abusing the poor door! I'm coming, sheesh!" The fox bellowed, rising from his chair with a groan.

 _Knock-knock-knock!_

The more rapid knuckles was more immediate, quieter than the heavy hits earlier, it was still louder heard with him just on the other side of it. He wasn't due for rent and Finnick still wasn't very fond of his new blue blood, the fox failed to guess who the door abuser was. With a single heavy flourish he swung the door open in a wide arc, instantly regretting the bright light that blinded him.

"What!" He yelled up to the lion landlord, squinting from his momentarily blinded vision. They didn't respond, he moved his paw to help shield from the light revealing no one was there in fact.

"Hey Nick." The rabbit just below the field of his glare said. A slow moment to let his vision settle on them.

"Officer Hopps?" He said disapprovingly. "What are you doing here?" He whined through a tired, raspy yawn, his tongue lolling out as if to help emphasis. "What about your train ride?" He continued to squint through the blaring light.

"Got a message, turns out the whole place is reserved already, busy siblings making their own families decided to reserve all the spare rooms, can you believe it!" She said brushing right past him and into his apartment.

"What? But I thought your farm had a massive underground burrow? What like 275 siblings or something like that, with guest rooms? How?" The tired fox tried and failed to meet the quota of active brain cells needed to hold a conversation.

"Yea, but between my brothers and sisters in their mid twenties already with a couple litters of their own they reserved all the extra rooms this New Years, Mom and Dad texted me when they found out, while I was at the train station." The rabbit flipped on a light at about the same time Nick managed to close his front door, the new assaulting light causing him to wince in its presence. Again he failed to assess the image in front of him, in place several sounds, glass, plastic bags and containers.

"Sorry to hear that." He lied.

"So I thought 'I'll spend New Years with Officer Wilde!' instead." She huffed, messing with the other sounding objects, Nick's eyes finally adjusting to show the set of plastic bags, a bottle of wine and a half finished pack of beers. "So I brought New Years goodies!" She said jovially gesturing to the small offering of snack foods and alcohols.

"Beer, wine and-" He grabbed at the first plastic container. "Blueberries? Are you trying to seduce me Officer Hopps?" Nick smirked chuckling to himself.

"Don't start with me Wilde." She relayed her own smirk.

"How did you know I was still here? I told you and Clawhauser that I was going out drinking with Finnick?" He tilted his head looking over some of the other fruits and vegetables.

"Come on Nick, I know you and Finnick haven't been on good terms since I pinned that brass badge on you." She said sardonically, Nick's own mood souring, looking down with his ears splayed out, a rare insight of that fox. "Sorry. He'll come around." She said reassuringly, he only nodded. "Anyway, so I figured we can drink to the New Year!" She made her way over to his mini fridge, an almost practiced motion, she moved through the wannabe apartment as if she owned the place in that moment. She returned with a happy hop to her step, one of his own chilled beers offered to him, the fourth of her own pack of six in her other paw.

"Thanks." He took it smiling, the two in unison pressing the tabs on theirs, the crisp sound of the can opening. "Cheers." They clicked the two aluminum cans together before starting in on their next respective drinks of the end of the year.

"You have a fireplace!" She suddenly yelled out, he instantly took in a sharp surprised breath, sputtering the drink as he coughed up the beer that made its way down the wrong tube. Hacking up the liquid he looked over the rabbit who was for the most part enthralled by the pretend space heater.

"No, it's not real, just electric." He coughed again hitting his chest with his closed fist. Try as he might to dislodge the liquid and continue to choke it up, the rabbit already made a direct move for the small living space. The whole of his rented basement was essentially a studio apartment, small divides only noted by furniture, tarps or larger mammal bed sheets that hung from the protruding overhead pipes that divided the 'bedroom' which was just a small corner with a rhino filing cabinet and an elephant pillow that acted as his bed. None of the mismatched or odd fashionings seemed to deter the rabbit, instead they seemed to further absorb her in the odd estate.

"This place is huge compared to mine! How much does it cost you?" She marveled over the room.

"Well, it's not really an apartment exactly. Sorta hustled the landlord for the basement, renovated it to suit me and viola, Casa del Wilde!" He ended with a noncommittal shrug and his usual smirk before joining her next to the space heater. "Think I pay, what like three and a half hundred? And besides just about anything looks big compared to your little shoebox of an _apartment_." He enunciated the final word while making air quotes, she shot him a glare.

"It's not a shoebox, it suits me just fine." She challenged crossing her arms defiantly.

"It's over priced, has no utilities with walls as thin as paper." He countered. "Face it Carrots, you live in a shoebox?" He ended with a victorious laugh.

"Don't have to be such a jerk about it." She responded quietly, shattering the confident, assured mood the fox had garnered in that moment.

"Oh, come on Hopps, you know I'm just teasing." He said dejectedly. "Hey how about we dig into some of this lovely fruit you brought over." He made his way back over to the assorted small containers on the would be table, setting the already half drained beer down in place of his favored snack.

"Well maybe I don't want to share anymore." She glared back at him, the challenge was on as soon as he grabbed the small container of blueberries. He made an exaggerated motion of popping it open and swiping a small paw full of the blue berries, sticking out his tongue. "Don't do it Officer Wilde." She threatened pointing at him. He was a glutton for punishment from that particular grey opponent, he put one berry on his tongue.

"Mmm, delicious." He smirked chewing on the single offering, he should have known better than to think the threat idle on the part of the now sudden grey blur that tackled him for the second or third time just since the sun went down. And not unlike before he was looking up at that same grey fur with an amethyst glare that bore down on him.

"I warned you Nick." She began fighting him over the remaining blueberries locked at the end of a clenched paw. The two fought over the small assortment of sweet berries. The sound the fox made started as a chuckle that grew louder, and louder still until the fox was laughing, deeply, utterly, bellowing laughter. Tears formed, his attention lost, just the opportunity for the rabbit to pry his clasped, clawed digits open, swipe the remaining blue berries that she promptly shoved into her own mouth.

"HA!" She confirmed her victory, but instead the fox just continued to laugh, entirely from his gut with deep intakes of breath. "What are you laughing about." But he didn't respond in any cognizant way, barely managing rasped, incoherent sentences up at the furrowed expression she wore. "What-ha-what are you-laughing at!" It was contagious, in all honesty he didn't know why he was, all he knew was that their antic had again caught him in a fit of laughter. He wasn't sure how much of the alcohol was still coursing through him, but their continued momentary laughter only seemed to prompt more laughter, neither knowing why they were. The night wasn't much different from that.

It was the most content moment of recent memory, a couple berries, a friend and some teasing was all it took to improve his mood so dramatically, he lived for those moments. They continued on like that, fruits, some vegetable with assorted dips, stories, eventually beer ran out and was replaced by wine as the year effortlessly flew by.

"And that's how I conned a narwhal into purchasing non-existent shares in a 'natural springs' water bottling company that wasn't even real." The fox smirked to himself proudly. "Just don't tell anyone, pretty sure that one's still under some sort of statute of limitations." Judy had, not unlike himself, become more susceptible to his poor stories and jokes the more they drank. Openly laughing at the retelling of his many different stories, ones that he admitted to himself he may have stretched out the worse parts of them each time he told them over the years. Carrot shaped recorder pen and notepad in place she wrote down the long drawls of jokes and stories. Unless she hosted some just as wasted mammals, he doubted they would take to the stories or jokes as well as she was.

"No way, Slick, how were you never arrested before!?" She took another sip, finishing off whatever numbered glass she had in paw, Nick himself didn't know how far past sober he was. When that same rabbit made to get up for another glass, falling back in place squarely beside him with an _omph._

"Woah there, Hopps. _Swear to drunk i'm not God Occifer_." She groaned making a motion of getting up again only to dizzily fall back into his side, reaching an arm around her shoulder this time to steady her. "Alright, time to call it." Taking the small glass before setting the two aside.

"Yea, think you might be right." She again groaned against the squinted blurry vision of a fox who just shook his head with a smirk. They sat like that, just on the floor next to the small shoddy electric fireplace, its red pulsing light against fake plastic logs was more homely than it ever had been to him in that moment.

"Thanks for seeing out the old year with me Judy." He sighed contently pulling her deeper into his side with the same paw slowly rubbing gentle, comforting circles into her shoulder. She looked up seeing that same warm, content smile he wore so rarely before burrowing into his side, relieving her own contented sigh.

"Wouldn't be anywhere else." She whispered into his side.

"Hm?" He curiously asked unable to hear the muttering.

"Nothing, you big jerk." She chuckled, he laughed the same. Nick felt that same exhaustion from before that rabbit suddenly broke into his boring and quiet end year routine. His head slowly, tiredly fell onto hers, his thumb absentmindedly still casting circles where it remained holding her to his side.

Seconds, minutes, it didn't matter in that moment to him, if _time_ itself stopped, he would be the last mammal to complain. Still time had to make itself known when he peaked from between two barely squinted lids, the microwave clock announcing the hours in its usual pulsing light, a few minutes past midnight.

"Hey, Judy, we missed the New Year." He smiled amicably looking down at his companion, no response from the closely held rabbit at his side. He loosened his grip letting her fall away from him slightly to find her eyes closed, _asleep_ , he smiled at the adorable sight. Her brows furrowed and her nose began to twitch as if an offending smell was caught, instantly shattering his place in that moment. Her paws uselessly reached and batted at nothingness, her eyes clenching harder before darting her head back into his side where her breaths steadied again with a relieved sigh that matched his own. He was still squinting against the same opposing light that fought him.

The night was over, he knew that much. Gently he picked up the small rabbit, it took a little effort on his own part to carry her with his own feet fighting him every step and protesting against his lack of sobriety. Eventually he made it to his destination, the corner housing the makeshift bed. Just as soon as he set her down she seemed to act out the same performance as before with his side. An almost angry expression ' _Hey I was comfy!'_ It spoke wordlessly to him before her nose twitched, she sought out a smell and burrowed into the comforting bed.

"Do I know i'm falling for this rabbit? Yes, yes I do." He whispered leaning down to move the beds blanket over her. A little closeness and inebriation was all the excuse he needed to forgive the small gesture of lightly kissing the rabbit's nose. It twitched rapidly while he made his way out of the divided, makeshift bedroom. He didn't notice the small movement his sleeping partner made rolling over, _Click,_ the muffled snapping of the carrot pens button releasing.

That fox had a smile on his muzzle, it wouldn't go away, he knew that as he went through the day's final motions, putting away perishables, turning out the lights and again setting up in his favorite recliner to look out the small rectangular portal to the outside that was his window. Light layers of snow had claimed it, glowing in the dark as the thin layer of sleet took on the hues of assorted neon lights and fireworks just beyond it. Blues, yellows, reds, greens and dozens of others till only a soft green pulsed within the room catching his attention. Judys phone with a constantly pulsing light. He groaned, reaching unceremoniously for it from his seat, refusing to sacrifice his comfort a last time. Its offending light blipped on and on again every couple of seconds. With a click and a swipe the device came to life blinding him again for a moment with its bright screen. The little envelope icon surging with a single '1' number on it. He pressed it.

1/1/16, 12:01, A.M.

Hey Jude the dude! Sorry you couldn't make it this year, everyones wishing you a Happy New Year! We'll see you next time you scrounge up some vacation time. We love you, sleep well.

StuHoppsFamily

He read it over with a furrowed brow again, whatever semblance of privacy that should have stopped him was gone with most of his higher brain functions at that moment. He readily scrolled up through some of the more recent messages to sate his curiosity.

 _12/30/15, 9:00, P.M._

 _Sorry guys, Chiefs not letting any more officers call in their vacation time, crime apparently won't even take a break on New Years, keeping this bunny busy. Gonna have to miss this New Years Party, tell everyone I'm sorry, I love them, I miss them._

 _JudyHopps_

 _12/30/15, 9:21, P.M._

 _Sorry to hear that Bunbun, everyone wants you to know they love you and miss you and they hope you enjoy the New Year! So what are you going to do for the holiday?_

 _BonnieHoppsFamily_

 _12/30/15, 9:23, P.M._

 _Probably a quiet, calm evening out with some of the other officers and my partner!_

 _JudyHopps_

The dull, tired fox mulled over the listless message history. Two days ago the history read ' _Didn't Judy have a ticket and go to the station?'_ The thought ran over inside his head for several seconds, he knew that she was cleared for vacation no differently than himself. A knowing smirk fell on his expression as the realization of the con that was pulled over on him. "Sly bunny." He whispered to himself ' _Dumb fox.'_ The rabbit's voice played out in his memory as he sat the phone down.

' _Life couldn't get better.'_ He thought to himself questioning behind closed, tired, heavy eyelids. He wondered just how many times that shifty rabbit was intent on proving him wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Proven Wrong

Nick groaned in an exaggeratedly loud tone, standing at the edge of the sidewalk along the street just outside his apartment. His audience being the alarmed or confused passers-bys whenever he went about his next set of unenthusiastic whines. His antics earning their magician-like disappearing act from his general presence. Proudly dressed in his pressed work blues with a dark navy blue windbreaker, a set of two tall coffees in his left paw from ' _Crescents'_ a local family cafe. A nice place that primarily served nocturnal mammals. If not for his trademark childishness he otherwise took on the appearance of prestige and professionalism. While not as cold as the weather in Tundratown, the Rainforest district had a artificial rain system in the form of large networking sprinklers whose reservoirs were still experiencing the cold of February. That same cold now making itself impossible to ignore as it weighed his fur down with the aforementioned trickle.

And so Nick groaned again at the frigid shiver he experienced when another wisp of tunneled air burrowed through that quiet street under the thick canopy, his hate for the chilly conditions entirely visible by the time the car he was waiting for finally arrived. Coming to a rest, just aside the small poorly kept street, it's stopping creating a teeth clenching shriek caused from the water logged brake pads. The taller cruiser took some effort to get into, especially while balancing the two coffees. Nick wasn't deterred though as the heat from the vents of the overly sized vehicle immediately welcomed him.

Having settled in just after the click of the door closing behind him, Nick quickly passed a disappointed look to the offending mammal just across from his seat, "Sorry I'm late... traffic." Judy offered with a guilty smile and shrug of her shoulders from the parallel drivers seat.

His response was slow and deliberate as he began the meticulous motion of adjusting the tie of his uniform and sat up in a picturesque example of reason and decorum, he cleared his throat before looking at his partner square with an assessing expression. "Uuuuuuughh!" he groaned loudly with an agitated flourish of his free paw at Judy.

"That bad huh?", Judy barely suppressed a giggle at his antics.

"Blaaaagh!" the whining tone continued with another flourish of his free paw in the air above him as if reprimanding any higher being willing to listen. He then took the second coffee from its stack on his own and offered it to the offending rabbit that now narrowly held his playful, sarcastic glare. This time she failed to stop herself when a small chuckle escaped her, Nick all the while was already relaxing back into his seat, letting the heater work the chill out of his fur. She placed the gifted cup of coffee in its respective cup holder just aside the center console.

"That's an astute observation you have there Officer Wilde," she said sarcastically with a pause. "Is this about as much functional brain power as I should expect from you today?" She chided quizzically.

His own expression shown a concerted effort to think over the question as she pulled the vehicle into drive on the quieted rainforest street. Eventually his expression evened out as he nodded, "Gaah!", Judy was openly laughing this time.

"Stop that, not while I'm driving!" She added with a final snort before swatting her paw at the fox who was now chuckling to himself at his accomplishment.

"Alright, alright, eyes on the road Carrots." He breathed a sigh of relief as he took a sip of his own sweet, caffeine infused drink, the liquid doing the work of warming him from the inside while the cruisers impressive heaters worked from the outside. "Can't wait till this winter crap is done." He groaned as seriously as he could.

"I thought foxes liked the winter? Didn't get your coat this year?" She mocked, the car slowing to a stop at a red light.

"Snow yes, heck even the rain in spring is nice but this in between crud is just… Uuugh." he flourished again, "Too cold to evaporate and not cold enough to be straight snow resting on the upper layers. It's only like this a couple weeks of the year but it still sucks." He slumped into his seat with a relieved sigh. Watching his partner out of the corner of his eye he began reaching for a small box in the front pocket of his jacket that he had picked up while buying coffee. "So, Carrots do you know-", he was cut off by the sudden smell that assailed his now defrosted olfactory sense. Judy remained just watching him out of the corner of her own vision, smiling all the while he took another blatant sniff of the air, waiting for him to catch up. "What?", he took another long whiff, his paw suddenly froze over the modest box of candies in his pocket as he he looked to the back seat. He finally noticed it, a large, vibrant bouquet of assorted, colorful flowers with familiar company markings and unique wrapping sitting in the seat just past the metal mesh divider that separated them from the place they put their ' _perp_ ' as it were.

"Flower...s?"

She shrugged with barely a care to respond, "Come on Nick, even you have to realize it's Valentine's day." She rolled her eyes as the street light switched over and the car kicked back into action moving forward, it wasn't much further till the district separating tunnel set beside a huge waterfall that would take them into the heart of Zootopia. The mid February season still meant slightly longer nights that lacked the morning sunlight to help Nick keep up with their hours.

"No way, you really forgot?", she mocked. Their banter had gotten to that same point where the morning greetings and its subsequent antics slowed down, neither of them having enough coffee to continue in any long winded discussion just yet.

"Who're they from?", he asked after a while, trying his best to seem disinterested as their vehicle came to a stop in the parking lot of precinct one, the more moderate temperature of the downtown area having worked the brake pads back to their usual dry, quiet.

" _Secret admirer,_ " Judy air quoted as they made their way up the steps of the side entrance. Her calm, nonchalance at the subtly smelling gift in the back seat causing more than a little confusion to him. "Not that it's really much of a secret, I mean come on, pretty obvious don't you think?" She chuckled adding a small pep to the last couple steps. The now defunct box of chocolate growing more and more pathetic when compared to the more extravagant gift.

Nick took more than a couple silent moments to think over the seemingly blatant revelation. " _Obvious?!"_ , he began thinking it over. Knowing that Judy had been and likely would remain the poster child of the ZPD with a friendly and approachable demeanor that worked well on recruitment posters. But also that this ' _secret admirer'_ was not only something she was so nonchalant about but someone she _knew_ about made him feel... odd. Judy didn't seem to miss the confused look, offering a challenging smile before Nick steeled his expression, poorly pretending indifference .

"On your left!" The loud, taller voice was the usual warning for the smaller mammals as they moved out of the way. The large zebras steps clacked across the marble floored lobby of the precinct, dressed in a brown uniform with a flower embroidered on the back. Once the large bouquet he was holding was noted it was nearly impossible to mistake the delivery mammal.

"Oooooh, another one!?" the proud, portly voice of the desk cat himself; Clawhauser jubilantly played out as the delivery zebra set the flowers down beside a large almost pile of others, quickly consuming the cheetahs available counter space.

"Woah buddy, quite the sought after kitty arncha?" Nick began with his trademark smirk as the two made their way to the front, just passed the quickly leaving zebra.

"Wow Clawhauser, really giving off an impression huh, and to think for even a moment they didn't want to have you as the cat that we all see when we walk in!" Judy offered with a similar excitement.

"Oh Judy, Nick. Morning you two," he began looking over at the floral arrangements. "Oh! There aren't for me silly, they're yours." He pointed clearly towards Judy, she slowly pointed at the flowers then to herself.

"Mine?" she meekly questioned in surprise, earning an ear to ear smile from the large cheetah as he nodded enthusiastically.

"HOOOPPS!" the whole of the busy front of the precinct came to a screeching stop suddenly looking up to their loud, enraged chief at the overlook above and to the left, Bogo did not appear pleased. "MY OFFICE, NOW!" He finished before vanishing back into his office with the loud slam of his door. Judys already surprised expression sank further as she looked from the closed chiefs door back to her two friends. But her mouth just hung open uselessly, searching for something to say but instead just resigning in defeat. Pointing in the direction of the stairs she began her trek to whatever reprimands waited at its end. The two remaining predators just watched her march with visible sympathy as she walked that death row like distance.

"Wow, Chief's pretty mad, already had a few officers take other flowers to your guys cubical." Clawhauser chuckled sitting back.

"There's more?!" Nick stumbled with the word.

Clawhauser rotated back around in his chair to face the fox with his usual, bright and sunny attitude. "Yea, pretty crazy huh? A lot of stand alone valentines from children through the school districts here in Zootopia that sent cards to their heroes, even Chief got a couple but no one got nearly as many as she did. I signed them all in from delivery, some from around Zootopia, bucks that seem to admire our little rabbit officer. But after a few, several more large bouquets arrived from the Burrows, seems she's quite the bachelorette now," he ended in a singsong tone. "Must have paid a mint to afford shipping it this far from the city, crazy huh?"

Nick looked continually dumbfounded, barely a manageable thought in his head as the con-artist in him tried to figure the logistics of that kind of cost to transport already expensive floral arrangements tens if not hundreds of miles from their original place. He had to agree with the cheetahs assessment, _it wouldn't be cheap_ , that kind of disposable income to send something that intimate to a rabbit they likely had never even met.

"Yea, she had one in the car from a secret admirer too." Nick let out a pathetic laugh that died on its way out of his throat. Instead of a sympathetic look, Clawhausers expression lit up.

"Wait she already had one on the way in?! That means she had to have got it at home, like from her apartment complex, that means someone close to her. OOOOOoooooh!" The shrill sound of it caused Nick's ears to fold back on his head at the loud, ecstatic sound the once dangerous looking predator managed. "A _secret admirer_ , wonder who it could be," a quirked brow began on the cheetah's face as he eyed the confused looking Nick who returned a look that somehow instantly killed off his smarmy expression. "Wait, you don't know who its from?"

"No idea, she said it was pretty obvious, but I dunno!" Nick responded faster than he had expected and lacked any of his usual cocky tone, the whole of the mystery getting more and more at his tenuously held nerves.

"Oh, we have to figure it out. Did you see a card or a logo or anything? Maybe we can narrow it down?" And just like that Nick's mind was quickly looking back through the information available to him. He had to admire the mammal who had selected the very nice arrangement that seemed to be very fitting alongside the image of his partner in his head. Some bellflowers and other purple buds with an earth smell, nice colors, vibrant but down to earth in general, all neatly tied at the base with some cliche carrots, the company logo of-

"Otterton!" Nick snapped his finger at the realization.

"Otterton?" Clawhauser was confused for a moment before catching on to the same thing. "The florist! That's in the Savannah Central, it's pretty close to where Judy lives, which means they live nearby!" Whatever short lived victory Nick had was quickly slipping away. This unknown admirer had quickly developed an impressive resume whoever they were. Unlike the nameless dozens of bouquets, he knew flowers that smelled good without being overpowering, allowing her own smell to come through, they lived close by and even knew her well enough to have the flowers sent directly to her. Worse still, Nick realized that whoever they were, the act of sending flowers directly to her didn't alarm her in the slightest. Her district as he knew had a large number of prey species, rabbits especially taking to the tepid environment with ease. Herself even informing him of a few rabbits on the lower floors of her complex.

The two males lost in their thoughts and attempts at surmising the conundrum at their feet didn't notice the quickly returning steps. "Ugh, Chief chewed me out about all the flowers," attention quickly shot back to the reappearing Judy who still hung herself in a defeated slouch before taking in a breath and shooting back into her usual defiant, determined demeanor. "Anyway, Chief wants us here today to catch up on paperwork… And mostly wants me here to receive and move any more arrangements so he doesn't have to 'waste any more of his officers time'. Two bugs one stone sorta thing so sounds like desk duty today partner!" Nick was still slightly baffled, but his partner's enthusiasm and smile always seemed to have a way of rubbing off on him.

A few hours later

"Oh this one's from a sheep in Tundra Town named Sherice!" Judy announced proudly at her _thirtieth, thirty-first_ valentines card from children throughout the city. She was glowing with pride as she read through the small cards, ears forward and at attention as she practically burrowed her face into the latest of a series of fan made gifts.

Nick on the opposite side of their cubicle was on the other paw nearly tearing his ears out now, four or five hours into their shift. The paperwork dragged on at a sloths pace and worst still was the looming theories. " _There was that hare she mentioned a week ago?"_ Nick began grasping at whatever straws he could think up in his innermost thoughts. " _No, Judy hated the stuck up guy… did say he looked nice in his suit though, ah,"_ Nick thudded his head against the blunt of his adjoined L shaped desk making sure the whack to his noggin was painful enough to try and straighten itself out, a bad idea but as good as any he could think of in that moment.

"Woah there Nick, no destroying city property now. Your head is hard enough." Judy mocked, Nick rotating to glare at her to find her already turned around and just staring him down. "Paperwork really getting to ya that much? I know it's not the funnest but we can't be out saving the city everyday!", She smiled and Nick honestly couldn't figure out just how she managed to always be so upbeat. He made a constant effort to stay as positive as he could, he had a lot to be happy for, thing was that like any other mammal it was never enough, he shrugged letting go of his useless glower.

Nick was a slouched mess as he took in his blessings, " _Good job, good health and friends, a mammal would be greedy to ask for more."_ He could hear the memory of his mother playing out in his head bringing that moment a somber nostalgia. Nick smiled at just that, from hustler to blue clad bringer of justice was a heck of a one-eighty, and the academy didn't hurt either when it came to his looks. But the last part of that memory was sitting in the seat just across smiling at him, he couldn't help smiling in return with his usual cocky grin. " _Wouldn't be the first time I was called greedy."_

"What do you mean ' _we_ ' as I recall it you were just my sidekick when it comes to saving Zootopia, _Carrots_." Nick chided with an oddly more personable tone and as always, if on cue, Judy laughed.

"Oh really, if memory serves I saved both our butts from the likes of a cold, watery grave. That makes you the ' _sidekick..._ ' _Slick_." She retorted confidently matching his tone even towards its end, Nick fought back a shiver running up his spine at the memory of Bigs threat of death.

"A challenge hm? Well if I remember correctly, and I clearly do, it was I that saved your cottontail from the cruel hooves of Bellwether."

And they were off, shots fired at each other in a useless battle of wit and charm, one that Nick excelled at but Judy often made up for with stubbornness. "A leg wound is a small price to pay compared to, what, over ten years of tax evasion ' _Mr. Wilde'_ hm," she shot back with enthusiasm, both leaning forward in their chairs barely blinking in competition with the other. Both of their tones had slowly changed in the course of their menial _conflict_ … yet something else in the way they spoke slower to each other.

"Oh…" Nick sorted through his memory looking for the next of his silver tongued munitions, his eyes wandering over the oddly nice looking partner across from him, settling on the brass badge on her vest. His smirk must have been utterly disarming because as Judy followed his gaze her stout expression sank. "Blackmail is illegal if I recall, you dragged me on your dangerous adventure for truth and justice nearly getting me killed, twice," he showed two clawed fingers towards her to accent the count, he wasn't even sure when but at some point he had moved his chair closer towards her now only a couple arms lengths away. "And even in spite of all that, when Chief horns for brains tried to take his best officers badge away… I wouldn't let that happen." His words fell out of his mouth as opposed to the confident rebuttal he imagined them as, each slower and more intimate than the last as he stared first at the offending chunk of printed metal that now sat cradled in the rabbit's paws. She held it as if just the mention of that moment would make the metal deteriorate into dust. He stared for a moment longer than he had ever intended to but couldn't pull his eyes away from where it was. "Never met a mammal that deserved it more," gone was all pretense of their competition of wits. Judy looked awestruck, on the verge of tears? Honestly Nick couldn't place her _forlorn_ like expression for anything he had ever seen before.

Judy ran a single of her padless digits over her badge in that moment of silence as she looked at it, slowly she looked back over to her partner, "I have."

The two stared at each other for a long, silent moment, " _are… we flirt-"_

"Mail call!" Came from just outside their cubicle, the loud voice of their wolf colleague, Wolford echoed off the overly sized cubicle of desks for the two smallest officers on the force. They both instantly shot into the backs of their chairs and rolled back towards their respective desks at opposite ends of the small area. "These are for Judy, we're running out of space so Chief wants you to take a full hour lunch and take these home or throw them out. Doesn't care so long as we get some of our space back." He ended putting it down next to several similar ones on her desk, seemingly unaware of their moment just a second before.

More than half the floor was taken up by various baskets full of flowers and chocolates. "Nick, chief says you're behind so you only get a thirty and he wants you to use the time to catch up on your reports." The wolf shot him a comical look while waving a single clawed finger at him. It was always funny how the goofy wolf seemed to play the role of parent despite Nick himself having a couple years on the larger predator.

"Alright!" Judy responded with gusto before flying out of her chair, grabbing Nick's jacket of the back of his before picking up the latest floral arrangement.

"Hey, you have your own jacket!" Nick pouted childishly.

"I'll pick you something up while I'm out so you're not just stuck with vending machine food, still have your wallet in your jacket?" She asked though she clearly already knew from the way she patted at the very pocket that had it. Nonetheless he agreed with a nod and in much the same moment she was already heading down the hall towards the side entrance at the end of the office area. Nick had already seen the poor state their selected cruiser " _Car 4-1-1,"_ as it had been dubbed for being the rookie mobile. It now reeked of flowers and even the tinted windows didn't help the neon like cast of so many colors throughout the space they took up. Now it was just Nick and Wolford, the wolf taking an unusual care to watch Judy as she walked down the hall. The longer he stared at her with that goofy grin on his face as he leaned out of the cubicle, the more it annoyed Nick.

"Aaaaand, she's clear, alright!" Wolford cheerfully announced as he shot forward to him handing a single envelope to the surprised fox. "And from Happytown, a card for you, sorry their postal system is kinda slow. Seems our fox officer is also someone's hero. Figured you would want the moment to yourself rather than having your partner fawning over it for you, ya know?" Nick was taken aback, unable to formulate words as he stared idly at the sealed card.

"I got one… too?", he sounded almost entirely doubtful that the very thing Wolford held was even real despite it being right there.

"From one; James Brushwell from Harpat Middle-School… the address says. Like I said, you're someone's hero." Nick took it carefully, as if just touching it would make it disappear, " _not impossible",_ he figured given his record, he was no one's role model. Nick remained just staring at it and sure enough, "James from Harpat Middle-School," he repeated back to the wolf who only chuckled.

"That hard to believe? You and your partner did save a LOT of predators from… well yea man, just... thanks." The wolf awkwardly scratched at the back of his head before making his way out of the cubical. "Now get back to work, Chief's on us today."

"Yea, hahha, will do." Nick laughed weakly as the steps of of the wolf eventually grew quiet from their distance, not taking his eyes off the envelope, "You're welcome."

He had re-read the message a couple of times, " _You're my hero."_ he kept reading it, it felt alien the way it proudly made him sit up in his chair at the warm feeling it caused.

"Alright, enough of that, back to work." He gingerly opened the top drawer of his desk and set the card inside just on top of his cell phone and next to his small box of candy from the coffee shop that morning.

A few more hours later

"What do you mean you don't know who?" Nick fumed at his cell phone, anxiously scratching at the fur at the back of his neck as he began to pace the hall back and forth.

"Nick, I have done over a hundred arrangements today, countless others prepared throughout the week, I can't possibly remember who-" The voice on the other end responded.

"Please Emmitt, this is important. It was delivered to one; Judy Hopps, you have books and records right? Help me out will ya." Nick begged the otter on the other end of the phone call.

"Because of how busy we are during Valentine's Day most of our on the fly orders aren't put in the books, only our registers for tax reasons, sorry." He sounded sympathetic but it did little to help how the fox on the other end of the call sounded.

Nick pinched the bridge of his snout in agitation. "Can you just take another look for me?", he asked as he paced that hall of the precinct just past the vending machines.

"Sure, I'll check again. Why is this so important? Is this part of an investigation?" Otterton asked while looking at his books of deliveries again. A tired sigh emanated from the other end of the conversation.

"No, just… she's my partner and someone's delivering flowers to her door instead of the precinct, it just has me a little worried. She's a celebrity at this point and I just want to make sure there aren't a bunch of weirdos and stalkers with her address?" Nick lied earning a moment of silence on the other end of the line for a moment. Dangling from his free paw was the second cup of coffee Judy had picked up during her lunch, part of a combo with a spinach sandwich she had gotten him from Crescents, though now it was down to the last couple of drops this late into the day.

"Yea, guess you're right, I'll check harder." Otterton sounded tired, Nick couldn't blame him knowing that of all the days Valentines was likely his most chaotic for a florist. "Anyway I gotta go, if I find it I'll call you immediately ok?" Otterton said on the other end.

"Yea, yea. Thanks again, tell everyone I said hi."

"Will do, enjoy the evening Nick."

"You too, have a good night Emmit." Nick conceded to their combined tiredness before he hung up.

Emmit sat there with the dial tone for several moments, he knew he wasn't a very good liar but thankfully over the phone didn't allow his poor poker face or many ticks to give him away. Letting out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding he set the phone down with a 'click.' Looking over where his finger was resting, his recent deliveries listed in an orderly manner across the large book. The latest directly under the offending digit reading; "Delivery to: Judy Hopps, From-

"Hey, all ready?" Judy asked appearing as if from thin air, offering no sound from exiting the locker room and somehow sneaking up on the natural hunter, surprising Nick as he quickly put away his cell. "Who was that?"

"Oh, no one, just a call." He shrugged guiltily offering nothing more than that. Judy quirked a brow defiantly, ready to hold her position on the subject before surrendering at his own stubborn expression, not looking like she was about to get more out of him than that.

"Alright Mr. Hides-a-lot I won't push. Let's head home, you already clocked out?", she asked and he nodded. Trying to decipher who from anyone he knew that could be the culprit of his current puzzle in the form of _thee "Secret Admirer"_ that continued to elude the mammal who ' _knew everyone'_ in his own words. " _It's a hit to my pride at this point!"_ Nick concluded, trying to justify his obsession with figuring out just who set this confusing mystery in motion.

Time seemed to just be flashing passed him as they made their way to the still flower smelling cruiser in the parking lot, filled with the last batch of delivered flowers. Judy would drop him off before taking the vehicle to her crappy little complex, being the designated driver gave her the benefit of the vehicles use but the responsibility of picking up his lazy tail each work day. " _Clawhauser just messing with me? Wolford, Rhinowitz, Snarlof, that hare she mentioned?"_

"Nick?"

" _Swinton from booking? Does she even swing that way?"_

"Niiick?"

" _Franky from down the street? A friend of the family from the burrows, a childhood sweetheart or-"_

"Nick!?" Judy asked again finally fishing him from his line of quarry. He looked up with a disheveled expression. "You alright? Think this might be the quietest you have ever been outside of work, you miss paperwork that bad?" She chuckled, "What's up?" She asked with that same warming smile, " _Curse that dang smile."_ Nick glared for all of a moment before sighing in defeat.

"I give up, who was it?" He rolled his eyes.

"Give up what?"

"Oh don't give me that. Your secret admirer, I know everyone, usually." Nick crossed his arms with a furrowed brow, studying the expression on his partners face. Slowly it turned with her head just tilting in a show of confusion.

"Who?"

"You know from the flowers when you picked me up?" He flourished his paws forward in agitation much like he had in the morning.

"Oooooh, yea the flowers from the ' _Secret Admirer,'_ those ones?"

"Yes! How can I not have heard of them? A secret boyfriend or something like that, holding out on me?!" He shot back louder than he had originally expected.

" _That's_ what was bothering you all day?" A challenging brow returned to her countenance. It mocked Nick to no end and he knew suddenly that he was losing, he didn't know just what he was losing only that he was losing… badly.

"Yes, please tell me!" He begged sitting forward on his knees, leaning across the center console with his hands together in a pleading prayer. Instead of sympathy though, his partner was cruel.

"Tell you what, if you can't figure out who they are by tomorrow's shift. I'll tell you," she looked utterly defiant in that moment. Nick just sighed in defeat before taking a moment to return his cocky grin to himself.

"You're a pain in my tail, Fluffs. Alright... tomorrow." He conceded before opening the door to escape to the cold air of his street in the rainforest district. He stopped half way out of the door, the weight, the sound of a familiar box catching his attention. "Oh, hey almost forgot," he followed sitting back retrieving the small box of chocolates, reaching over across the center console, "Here."

"What is it?" She asked taking the small box. The top piece of the small cardboard container had a folded layer not unlike a seasons greetings card, it was cheap, simple but Judy still took it with a smile. "When did you get this?"

"When I got us coffee this morning." Nick shrugged dismissively, he was mistaken if he thought it was that simple.

"So you didn't forget what day it was!"

"Me? Forget, madam I am offended, of course I didn't forget. Silly rabbit." He laughed waiting as she opened the card. A yellow dandelion, long since pressed by the card stock layer throughout the day. Judy picked it up and looked over the weed before wordlessly questioning the small flower. "Couldn't think of what kind of flower to give Zootopias best known bunny, so I just thought back to that time… you remember the day when you came back to Zootopia, coulda gone to the police, Bogo but you came straight to me?" Nick's tone was tired but whimsical as the two of them thought back to that moment under the bridge in the dead of summer, the weed like flower everywhere.

"Clever fox." She said fighting back a tear, taking a new care in how she held the small, seemingly insignificant plant.

"Have a good night, Judy." He hopped out of the car now, waving bye, she reciprocated the motion without a word. The door shut and the two parted ways for yet another productive day for the pair of officers in the big city of Zootopia.

His pace was slow and deliberate, the steps counted on the concrete allowing him time to think. He still couldn't figure out ' _who'_ no matter how much he thought about it. As far as he knew, Judy wore her emotions on her sleeve. A secret boyfriend that he didn't know about was not only impossible for him to imagine with how much time he spent hanging out with her, but he also didn't like the way the mere thought turned his insides. The shade of the canopy having quickly cooled the air of the lower parts of the district to near freezing. Worst still was the moisture that could be felt even inside his building, though to a lesser extent. He didn't notice anyone along his path through the normally very quiet housing building as he went to his door down and to the end of the hall on the first floor. Retrieving his keys from the pocket in his jacket and inserting it into the old lock, the apartment door opened with a small amount of effort, the smell of flowers still stuck in his nose from the whole of the day making itself known again as he breached the portal into his apartment. He set his keys and wallet down on the counter just off and to the left as he entered, as if prompted the assorted pipes that bellowed and moaned to life in their rhythmic fashion. The best feeling deriving from the boilers and central heating systems that kept the space nice and dry.

It was something so many would scoff at but to him it was a lot of space, cheap and homely in a growingly real sense to the very sceptical fox himself. A constant like his new job and friends… he liked it.

His other friends, primarily Finnick likely out for a night on the town playing at his own charms and swooning vixens at some bar, he took to his own comforting habit. A cold fresh beer from his fridge and a seat for the next couple of hours before he would doze off. Time continued to flow by, " _How does that saying go? When you're having fun?"_ Though in the end he wasn't sure if it was fun or just the content feeling he had in that moment, either way it wasn't long till he was ready to head to bed. Not so much a room as it was a space divided by a shower curtain, the welcoming of his bed would have to wait as he pulled a piece of card paper from his jacket's pocket. He propped it up there just beside his bed for what passed as a nightstand among the many repurposed furnishings he had dotting across and making up the brunt of Nick's home. He just stood there staring at it, just a couple of words in order and he just couldn't have imagined the impact they had, he never felt so proud in his life as he remained there smiling, to no one in general.

Slipping out of his uniform and hanging it on a small of loose hanging wire near the boiler, the dryest place he could find in his makeshift apartment he moved for his bed. Something was off though in how it was clean and made up. Nick took pride in his appearance but the same could not be said for his sleeping arrangements, so as he looked at it, it continued to elude him, the bedding, the blanket or the bouquet that sat on top of-

A moment… then two he stared at the familiar arrangement before his jaw dropped in realization. The purple arrangement held in place by a carrot themed wrapping with familiar logos belonging to Ottertons floral arrangements, there was no mistaking it being the very same bouquet he saw earlier that same morning. He regarded it with a lavish curiosity as he reached for it, the green stems removed of their thorns, the paper and plastic wrappings around the flowers crinkling in his paw as he lifted it from the bedding. Raising it he took the small hanging tag-

Nick smirked to himself nodding his head at the sly rabbits antics.

"From: Secret Admirer"

"To: Dumb Fox."

Bonus Ending -

Finally arriving home, setting the car into park just under the street light a few blocks down the busy street. Judy could feel the tense excitement coursing through her every nerve.

"Nick has to find out soon." She snickered to herself at whatever his reaction would be, disappointed she wouldn't be there when he realized that the admirer was her the whole time and that she had been yanking his chain all day. Looking over to the small box still sitting on the center console a whole different giddy feeling kept in the core of her stomach, causing a warm smile to appear on her face every time she looked at it. She hopped out of the car grabbing another one of the many remaining flower arrangements on her way up to her apartment.

"Stupid… Steven, Fairchild." She huffed at the tag of the latest in a line of inappropriate gifts. She was surprised at just how many she had got, several from rabbit she knew from nearly a decade ago in Bunny Burrow. Rabbit that made the mistake of thinking she forgot about their mockery whenever she told them about her dream. Ironic that now she had achieved it as the first rabbit officer in Zootopia on top of being a very successful one sure had them them singing a whole new tune. It wasn't the biggest display or the most expensive one but instead that same small box of chocolates that became her favorite, well thought out, from the heart and actually appreciated the gesture. Slowly and with a little difficulty given the large flower display she eventually managed to reach her door, the balancing act of everything she had and trying to open the door was her newest challenge.

"Stupid… thing." Another gruff kicking sound and the small apartment door flew open with a loud thud. "Sorry." She said seemingly to no one and at the same time everyone in the thin walled ' _Grand Pangolin Apartments'_.

She barely fit through the door of her already small space, added with her latest arm full of flowers that she brought up from the cruiser. Entering the small living space she set it down alongside a bunch of others that she had brought home during her lunch break.

"Finally, home."

She started her own end of day routine, hanging her uniform just beside the door on a small set of hangers. An orange vest that thankfully hadn't seen use for a long time. It was a welcome routine that made life a little more relaxed. A well needed, but never satisfying meal that came from the best efforts of her old microwave and a video call to her parents. The holiday came with it several _subtle_ hints from her mother to find a nice buck to settle down with. Finally the day was coming to a close, having already long since become night she found herself sitting on her bed. A small yellow flower being rolled slowly back and forth between her padless digits. A reminder of one of the worst and best days of her life, pouring her soul out to her first real friend in Zootopia. The same day the pair became the dynamic duo that saved countless innocent mammals. Now as she readied to go to sleep, _it_ caught her eye, a small carrot like pen that also had a built in recording device.

" _Alright gotta be quick." Judy knew she had at best thirty minutes remaining from her lunch hour. She began quickly closing the door behind her, Nick's keys swiped from the pocket of his jacket, all part of her master plan. The mysterious arrangement in her paws, purple flowers wrapped in carrots by her friend Emmitt earlier that day._

 _First she moved to place the flowers on the counter just off from the entrance, "No, not there, too obvious. It has to be a surprise, hmmm." She continued to think on it before snapping her fingers. "His bed, just before he goes to sleep!" She concluded, the most obvious choice being the only room that had a seperator. Judy quickly ran over to the small room._

" _Really Nick?" She shook her head back and forth at the disappointed state of the makeshift bed. A large mammal pillow acting as the mattress inside a massive filing cabinet for rhinos. It was a mess, Judy being the overachiever she was went to work cleaning up the bed for its final presentation._

' _Tic'_

 _The small sound echoed off the floor as she put the pillow down. At her feet she saw it, her small carrot shaped recording pen. Missing, she realized since new years, when she made the last minute decision to hang out with her closest friend over her family. She didn't have much time though as she set the flowers down, collected the pen and hurried out of the building having set her surprise._

Two months since she last had the pen and memory muddled by the amounts of alcohol the two had consumed on that night she couldn't recall almost anything. Breakfast in the morning and back home the following day, Nick said he couldn't remember much of their new years either.

" _Hm, I wonder"_

She rolled it around in her paw till the 'playback' button faced her, a moment or two of curiosity... she pressed it-


End file.
